biscuit's space | The blog of photographer Katherine Carver

Feb 22

Help: Saving Violet

This is a very difficult blog post to write. Violet is a seven-year-old mastiff dog who was found on February 8, 2016, in Maryland, abandoned and emaciated, only weighing 56.4 pounds, a third of her normal body weight. (Mastiffs generally weigh between 140 and 150 pounds). Authorities report that Violet was pushed out of a car by a human(s) somewhere in Maryland. Rescuers found Violet after animal control responded to a report concerning an emaciated dog.

A $5,000 reward is being offered from the Humane Society of the United States for information in the case that leads to an identification, arrest and conviction of those involved.

“It is unimaginably callous to cruelly starve and abandon an innocent dog in this way,” said Emily Hovermale, the Maryland state director for the Humane Society. “We are hopeful this reward will bring forward anyone with information about this heinous crime.”

Thankfully, Violet is receiving a second chance at life due to the kind help of rescuers and Mutts Matter Rescue, Inc., a dog rescue located in Maryland, that I have worked with.

Violet is receiving vet care and she is living with a wonderful foster to help rehabilitate Violet until she is healthy enough and ready for adoption. Violet’s case has received a lot of news coverage as well. You can see more of Violet by viewing this news video of Violet in her foster home. You can also read a recent article about Violet in the Washington Post.

Please consider making a donation to help save Violet. Any donation amount is very appreciated and all donations will go to helping to rehabilitate Violet. Doug and I donated, along with many others, and Violet’s case is a perfect example of why I am began my long-term photography project. Please feel free to share this post with others who might be interested in helping this good cause.

You can keep apprised of Violet’s progress here on Violet’s Facebook page. Violet is currently learning to climb steps!

Please help save Violet!

*The above image is courtesy of Mutts Matter Rescue, Inc.

Feb 19

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Around Here: February

Well, winter is truly here. We have had quite a bit snow, and it has been cold here, but it will be a warm weekend reaching near 60 degrees! Below are some items that have occurred around here in February!

-continuing to work steadily on my long-term photography project, and one portion of the deliverable remains to be completed; hopefully, I have a couple more months to go to finally finish!

-working on a new design for my website, which I hope will be finished later this spring/summer.

-my Mom and I have finished planning the final details for my sister’s baby shower next month!

-we are working on the final details of Victory’s portrait, which will be Audrey Hepburn inspired, to be painted this year, similar to Biscuit’s painting where they will hang side by side in our home!

-working on a color spot — one for Biscuit and one for Victory to hang in our home.

-we have planned our vacations for this year, and they will all, of course, include our fur girl, Victory! She is getting to be a well-traveled little sheltie! We are doing our vacations a little different this year than in past years. We are spending them with each of our families and taking a few shorter trips on our own. This year we are headed to Keeneland located in Lexington, Kentucky; Lake Michigan; Atlanta; and Charleston! And, for one of our trips, there will be three Ergos! It will be so much fun!

-burning candles in the house!

-enjoying date nights with Doug!

-enjoying a fun Valentine’s Day with my loves!

-enjoying cooking with Doug and trying new dinner recipes. Here are a few of our recent favorites so far this month: Louisiana Chicken Pasta and Chicken Di Pana.

-still enjoying my yoga class!

-I began reading When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi — a really good read.

-watched the first and second seasons of Mozart in the Jungle — a good television series.

-started the second season of Better Call Saul — a good television series.

-excited and looking forward to going to Michigan to meet, hold, and photograph our soon-to-be nephew in several weeks! We can’t wait to spoil him!

-using my new Fitbit and I’m hitting 10,000 steps per day most days.

-continuing to make more progress on our ever-growing to do list!

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend! We are hosting a dinner over the weekend, and it should be fun! We also will take our fur girl, Victory, for some outings to take advantage of this warmer weather as it has been quite cold here. Victory will also get a much needed bath this weekend, and thankfully it will be warm!

Feb 16

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Quote of the Day

I am in the home stretch of my long-term photography project, a few more months to go (hopefully), and sometimes I say to myself, “Am I ever going to finish?” But that thought is exactly why I am doing this project.

I keep thinking of this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

I also frequently think about this quote by Sally Mann in her new book, Hold Still: “The voice of despair suggests seducingly to me that I should give up, that I’m a phony, that I’ve made all the good pictures I’m ever going to, and I have nothing more worth saying. That voice is easy to believe, and, as a photographer and essayist (and my early mentor) Ted Orland has noted, it leaves me with only two choices: I can resume the slog and take more pictures, thereby risking further failure and despair, or I can guarantee failure and despair by not making more pictures. It’s essentially a decision between uncertainty and certainty and, curiously, uncertainty is the comforting choice.”

Somehow the act of creation does feel scary and overwhelming, at times, as illustrated by the quotes above. This project is reminding me to keep an open mind, persevere, and remembering that I can always go farther than I initially think. Walt Disney said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” I believe that every day. If you dream something, make it happen, and witness it come to fruition — there is nothing more rewarding.

Happy Tuesday!

Feb 15

Victory: Photography Project — 82

Beginning in January 2014, I started a weekly photography project with my muse, Victory! I will continue to share this project on the blog this year! My goal is to document all of Victory’s changes, while preserving fleeting moments and memories, while capturing moments of our everyday.

We’re having a nice long weekend and Victory had a great Valentine’s Day! After all, she is our little Valentine! She now has some more toys to hoard in her ‘hut’ and some cute bowls to eat her treats in! A few images from this weekend are shown below!

Happy Monday!

Feb 12

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Happy Valentine’s Day – Doug and Victory!

Happy Valentine’s Day to my two loves — you both make my life so much sweeter! (Biscuit is never forgotten and he will always be our first fur love).

We cannot believe that it is our third Valentine’s Day with little Victory, and for Doug and I it is our twelfth Valentine’s Day together! Where has the time gone! I can still vividly remember our first Valentine’s Day together. I have every Valentine’s Day card (and every other card) Doug has given me; and on our first Valentine’s Day, we gave each other the same card unbeknownst to each other, a good omen!

For Valentine’s Day, Victory is getting some fun valentine themed chew toys, and a couple of small bowls for her snacks/treats! We are excited for spring to come, in a little over a month, and we hope that it comes early, as we are in a deep freeze here! Doug and I are celebrating Valentine’s Day this weekend by going to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in D.C. and then we will spend the evening together with our fur girl, Victory, likely watching a Netflix/Amazon marathon! My loves, Doug and Victory, are shown below!

Happy Valentine’s Day to all! I hope that you have a lovely long weekend!

“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.” –Oscar Wilde

Feb 10

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Good Read: Inspirational Books

I thought that I would share some inspirational books!

Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are by Shauna Niequist: Savor contains 365 daily readings, plus there are great recipes included throughout the book. Each daily reading is short and poignant, and designed to help you pause in your day, to consider your everyday life, to slow down, and notice the beauty right where you are. Each reading ends with a question or statement to ponder throughout your day. Below is an excerpt from this book.

“I want to arrive. I want to get to wherever I’m going and stay there. That’s why I used to be such a ferocious planner of my life. But I’ve learned to just keep moving, keep walking, keep taking teeny tiny steps. In those teeny tiny steps and moments I become who I am. We don’t arrive. But we can become. And that’s the most hopeful thing I can think of. In the passing moments of our lives, in the small steps we take, we are shaped into who we are becoming. What small steps have you taken recently? How have they shaped you? Who are you becoming?” –Shauna Niequist

Brave Enough by Cheryl Strayed: I love quotes, and this book is a collection of quotes and nuggets of advice and inspirational wisdom. This book makes a great gift for women. Below is one of my favorite quotes.

“The thing about rising is we have to continue upward; the thing about going beyond is we have to keep going.” — Cheryl Strayed

Outrageous Openness: Let the Divine Take the Lead by Tosha Silver: This book is about opening up to life, intuition, and divine guidance. Each chapter contains pearls of playful wisdom. Silver urges one to be open and provides examples of what happens when we practice from that place. This book focuses on putting one’s faith in the divine/Universe/God/life to bring us what we need, while bringing an attitude of curiosity, acceptance, and generosity towards ourselves and others.

A Year Without Fear by Tama Kieves: I first read this book, a collection of daily inspirational wisdom, last year, and I am rereading this book again this year. Each day’s reading provides inspiration. Below is one of my favorite quotes.

“Trust each moment to take you where you need to go. You won’t always have the same feelings or thoughts or perspective. One day you wake up and new opportunities become available. Opportunities are like a carousel ride with colorful horses that sail around and around. When it’s your time, you’ll see your horse. You’ll jump and fly through the air like a natural. You’re always a natural in the right time. Today I remember that in the right time, I’ll see my opportunity.” –Tama Kieves

Feb 8

Finding the Time…

“How do you find the time?” is a questions that I get asked I have been working away for three and a half years on my long-term photography project that is really important to me. I think the simplest answer to this question is that if you want something badly enough, you somehow find the time, and you find the time in the most unlikely places. There are many people who do not finish projects, let alone a long-term project that requires, a lot of work, effort, perseverance, and patience. Below are some ways to find more time to devote to a creative endeavor with our limited and constant 24 hours per day.

1. Stay Organized: Staying organized is key. The more organized you are, the more you are able to foresee space to carve out on your schedule and dedicate time to a project ahead of time. It is helpful to keep a running list of items you want to accomplish.

2. Identify your Most Productive Time: Everyone has a time of day where they are most productive and alert. Figure out what this time is for you, as it is best to carve out time during these optimal times and leverage these times accordingly. The mornings are my most productive times, and I utilize these times, and wake up earlier to utilize this time.

3. Set Aside Time: The more you are able to set aside time on your calendar and treat it like an important appointment, the less likely you are to waste this time.

4. Prioritize: Instead of watching television or surfing the web, social media, apps, etc., use this time to get constructive work completed. It is amazing how much time is needlessly wasted engaging in these activities, when this time could be used for more productive creative projects.

5. Avoid Interruptions: While you are working on your project/creative endeavor, to help maintain your focus, turn your phone off; turn your email off; and turn social media off to prevent distractions so that you are able to solely focus your attention on your project. It is amazing how small interruptions easily get you track from the task at hand.

6. Say “No.”: It is really easy to take on more work and commitments; and then you find that the time that you have carved out for your project is gone. It is best to not take on anymore commitments than necessary in order to guard and protect your creative work time.

Happy creating!

Feb 5

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Victory: Ten Things…

Below are ten things you may not have known about our little fur girl, Victory!

1. She loves ‘play time’ right before bed! We think it is her favorite time of day! She jumps around, tries to get our hands in her mouth, makes noises, and she occasionally barks! She is quite agile and can really jump and move swiftly! I will have to work on getting a video of Victory in action!

2. In addition to loving riding in the car, she absolutely loves coming home in the car to her garage — it is so magical and exciting for our fur girl, Victory!

3. She loves going in her Ergo! Who wouldn’t, right? However, we save the Ego for when we really need it.

4. She loves almost all types of human food, and she enjoys coming into the kitchen and to the dining table for some treats in the evening! She also loves to be fed while we watch television in the evenings!

5. She loves her Fromm wet and dry food and eats her breakfast and dinner in no time flat on the sofa, no less!

6. During the night, she loves to lay on pillows above our heads. Some nights, she snuggles her head right up against mine (or Doug’s)! She rarely snores and she loves having a flush headboard. We discovered during our vacation, last year, that she only likes flush headboards as opposed to non-flush headboards, as she slept in between us and we could hardly move!

7. Whenever Victory is nervous, she lifts her left paw up. She can become easily stressed in new situations that are unfamiliar. However, once she adapts, she does well. She loves the routine and predictability.

8. She does not enjoy bath time, but she is getting a little better, with time!

9. She sometimes will stop dead in her tracks while we are out on a walk if she sees someone! This can makes walks difficult, at times, in our neighborhood. However, in unfamiliar places, she constantly is moving, making walks easier! This is why we like to try new places to go for walks!

10. She loves to lay by my feet while I am working at the computer, she is a very faithful companion who keeps me company while I work! We are so fortunate to have our fur girl!

Happy Friday! We hope that you have a great weekend! We are going to get together with friends and also see Kung Fu Panda 3!

Feb 3

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Four Year Blogiversary!

Today is the four-year Blogiversary of www.biscuitsspace.com in conjunction with my photography website. It is really difficult to believe that four years have already passed by so quickly! The blog has, fortunately, come a ways since I started the blog four years ago! My favorite part about the blog is the header, featuring Biscuit and Victory!

If it were not for our beloved Biscuit, I am not sure I would have ever started blogging and I know that I would not have started my long-term photography project, for which Biscuit and Victory are my inspiration. Biscuit was such a blessing and gift to us. Biscuit permanently changed our lives in so many ways and Biscuit sent us our precious little rescue sheltie, Victory, who we adore and love, shown below! And, coincidentally, Victory is as old as the blog!

Thank you for reading this blog for however long or short you have been visiting! I truly enjoy creating content for the blog to share with all of you, and I hope that you continue to enjoy visiting and reading the blog!

Thank you so very much! xoxo

Feb 1

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2016 Happiness Jar

This post is a little late this year. However, starting at the beginning of 2014, I decided to make and keep a happiness jar throughout 2014. In 2015, I kept a larger happiness jar, which I filled up during 2015, pictured below, which I sifted through after the Holidays. It is nice to have the ability to reflect upon the past year through tiny pieces and snippets of paper.

This year, I bought an even larger mason jar for my happiness jar in 2016, shown below. At the beginning of January this year, I started to write down at least one happy/grateful sentiment/moment at the end of each day and place it in my new jar in order to create and cultivate a way to remember snippets from each day and to foster more gratitude this year. It is easy and it only takes a few minutes each day, and there is no simpler or less demanding spiritual practice. I highly recommend this practice. I am also still using my wish ball!

Happy Monday!